Too Smart to Be Addicted?

Does being smart mean you’re too smart to get addicted? No, that’s probably just your first excuse: “I’m smart, I know what I am doing. I am in control.”
Two recent studies shed some light on where being the smart kid gets you, and it’s the same place being the not-so-smart kid gets you: Addicted.

Addiction Smarts

A new study of twins showed that those who read first or were more verbally advanced were twice as likely to have alcohol problems and four times as likely to get drunk at least monthly by the age of 18.
Does that mean the smarter twins are alcoholics? No. The more verbal twins may have been exposed to more new things in general, including alcohol. Or they may have had older or more socially advanced friends, who were more likely to expose them to alcohol.
In addition, a study published in July showed that the people with the most knowledge about the health risks of drugs and alcohol are those who use them the most. Knowing more about the risks and being exposed to information about the dangers of drugs did not deter the people in the study from using them.
What can both studies show us? Being smart doesn’t mean people are smart enough to avoid addiction. When you can’t do without drugs or alcohol, you’re the same as any other addict. At a certain point, it doesn’t matter. Do you drink too much? Do you have a problem? Should you take care of it? It’s not about being too smart or drinking too early. It’s about recognizing the problem and figuring out how to deal with it.

Top of the Class or First to Fail?

How you got there doesn’t matter or who was giving you the drinks. It’s your life and you have to figure it out. Being advanced may mean the first kid to start drinking, the cool kid in school, the most fun at the party. But it may also mean being the first to realize there’s a problem. Having the guts to admit that, and that other people will be part of your solution.
Lakeview Health can help. Call our admission counselors at 866.704.7692 to find out how we can help you. Treatment for addiction can start sooner than you think.